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ADDRESS 


OF 


PRESIDENT COOLIDGE 


AT THE 


CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL 


ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY 

VIRGINIA 


SUNDAY, MAY 25, 1924 
AT 3 O’CLOCK P. M. 




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WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1924 











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LIBRARY of congress 

received 

J ;j L 1 4 1924 

i COCIIMENTS DIVISION 




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ADDRESS 



My Fellow Countrymen: 

If I am correctly informed by history, it is fitting* that the Sabbath 
should be your Memorial Day. This follows from the belief that 
except for the forces of Oliver Cromwell no army was ever more 
thoroughly religious than that which followed General Lee. More¬ 
over, these ceremonies necessarily are expressive of a hope and a 
belief that rise above the things of this life. It was Lincoln who 
pointed out that both sides prayed to the same God. When that 
is the case, it is only a matter of time when each will seek a common 
end. We can now see clearly what that end is. It is the main¬ 
tenance of our American form of government, of our American 
institutions, of our American ideals, beneath a common flag, under 
the blessings of Almighty God. 

It was for this purpose that our Nation was brought forth. Our 
whole course of history has been proceeding in that direction. Out 
of a common experience, made more enduring by a common sacrifice, 
we have reached a common conviction. On this day we pause in 
memory of those who made their sacrifice in one way. In a few days 
we shall pause again in memory of those who made their sacrifice 
in another way. They were all Americans, all contending for what 
they believed were their rights. On many a battle field they sleep 
side by side. Here, in a place set aside for the resting place of those 
who have performed military duty, both make a final bivouac. But 
their country lives. 

The bitterness of conflict is passed. Time has softened; discretion 
has changed it. Your country respects you for cherishing the mem¬ 
ory of those who wore the gray. You respect others who cherish 
the memory of those who wore the blue. In that mutual respect 
may there be a firmer friendship, a stronger and more glorious 
Union. 

When I delivered the address dedicating the great monument to 
General Grant in the city of Washington, General Carr was present, 
with others of his comrades, and responded for the Confederacy 
with a most appropriate tribute. He has lately passed away, one 
of the last of a talented and gallant corps of officers/ To the 
memory of him whom I had seen and heard and knew as the rep- 

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resentative of that now silent throng, whom I did not know, 1 
offer my tribute. We know that Providence would have it so. 
We see and we obey. A mightier force than ever followed Grant 
or Lee has leveled both their hosts, raised up an united Nation, and 
made us all partakers of a new glory. It is not for us to forget 
the past but to remember it, that we may profit by it. But it is 
gone; we can not change it. We must put our emphasis on the 
present and put into effect the lessons the past has taught us. All 
about us sleep those of many different beliefs and many divergent 
actions. But America claims them all. Her flag floats over them all. 
Her Government protects them all. They all rest in the same divine' 
peace. 

o 


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


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